App keeps early voting in Taunton running smoothly

Saturday

Oct 27, 2018 at 11:34 PM

TAUNTON --- For poll workers handling early voting in the city over the past week, lines have never been shorter – nor have they moved along so quickly.

Thanks to a new iPad-based voter confirmation application purchased this year, City Clerk Rosie Blackwell said that workers are able to verify a resident’s identity and voting eligibility with a few taps and swipes on an iPad.

While residents will still be casting their votes by hand, Blackwell said that the software – called Poll Pad - has minimized the amount of time workers spend flipping through pages of voter lists.

“All the workers have loved it…(the software) confirms a resident’s address and (in turn) allows them to vote,” Blackwell said on Saturday from city hall, open as a polling station on the last eligible day for early voters to cast their ballots.

“(The software) saves us lot of time and alleviates the lines on election days.”

According to Blackwell, Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. gave the City Clerk Department permission to purchase 18 iPads installed with the Poll Pad software from provider LHS Associates, Inc., based in New Hampshire.

According to a company flyer, the software was the first of its kind to be piloted in New Hampshire and is currently used in 18 states, as well as in Washington D.C.

On Saturday, two check-in tables at the city hall early voting polling station used the technology, which Blackwell confirmed would be “tested” at two locations in the city during the state’s November 6 elections.

In the city’s second year participating in an early voting period (the first being for the 2016 Presidential Election), Blackwell said that the state provided her office with $2,800 to keep a polling station open on a Saturday - $2,000 more than last year.

“It was my choice to remain open today,” said Blackwell, who confirmed that the state funding would be allocated into the city’s general fund.

Blackwell said that she did not have enough time to train all of the city’s poll workers ahead of this year’s state elections, but plans on fully implementing the software next year.

“Everything has been one-hundred-percent perfect (in using the application), and we plan on continuing to use it in the future,” she said.

“Next November, we’ll go full force around all of Taunton.”

Blackwell said that Taunton – like other municipalities that use the software – had not been forced by the state or any other entity to adopt the fairly new technology, and instead made the choice to purchase it.

“I’m not sure how long (other municipalities have used the application). Some communities might have had (iPads) last year,” she said.

Blackwell said that the iPads are connected to City Hall’s WiFi and rely on the building’s associated internet security protections to prevent anyone (particularly hackers) from interfering with the software.

As per Massachusetts law, poll workers are not permitted to specifically ask residents to provide a driver’s license, Blackwell said.

When using Poll Pad, Blackwell said that potential voters are instead given a “choice” to either provide a valid form of identification or provide their name.

For those who choose the former option, the barcode on their respective drivers’ licenses are scanned using the iPad’s camera and linked to their voter information within seconds.

Those without a form of identification must provide their name (which is entered into the application) and then corroborate their address with the one listed in the city’s voter records.

“About three-fourths of voters showed their licenses,” said Blackwell.

“This is my second time (working the polls)…I love (the software) because it makes the process so much quicker - otherwise, you’ll be flipping through the books,” said polling clerk Stephanie Thompson.

“It’s a great experience to be able to see it used, and I really enjoy it.”

According to one of the software’s features that tallies the total number of votes cast in a user’s respective municipality, 1,067 residents (three percent of the city’s eligible voters) had cast votes as of early Saturday afternoon since the beginning of the early voting period on October 22.

“(The software) seemed really great, it was quicker and it was also nice to be able to come on a weekend to vote,” said Jacklene Mustafa, who for the first time cast a ballot during the early voting period.

“It makes no difference (on my part), but it was a little bit faster than usual,” said Laurie Pannella, who added that she had participated in early voting last year.

“This is my first time doing early voting; I’m a college student in Boston, so this is the only way I’d be able to vote because I can’t on a weekday,” said Spencer Riding, a freshman at UMass Boston.

“The app was really convenient and seems easy to use.”

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